Aerial movement systems are useful in moving, for example, a camera over a large expanse such as a football field, or basketball court. While the remaining description generally discusses these aerial movement systems as they relate to cameras, it should be appreciated and understood that the present invention is not necessarily limited only to aerial movement systems with a camera.
Since the aerial movement systems suspend heavy camera equipment, often times over spectators and/or competitors, it is desirable to have one or more safety systems in place to avoid a system failure resulting in the suspended equipment falling downward and potentially injuring people. In addition, it is desirable to protect the expensive camera equipment from damage that could occur as a result of a fall. This need to protect spectators and/or competitors and the need to avoid unnecessarily damaging the camera systems has spurred the growth of safety systems for use with aerial movement systems.
Some safety systems for aerial movement devices utilize passive systems, such as those that include a block and tackle or similar type arrangement. By only utilizing weights and relying on gravity to activate the safety mechanism, these systems are passive and do not actively determine if a failure occurred. In addition, these types of systems are placed along the existing support lines that are used to move the camera. While these systems are presumably effective for their intended purposes, by utilizing the existing lines, these systems may not be configured to appropriately respond to all types of system failures. In addition, by not actively determining if a failure occurred, these systems may not respond to all failures, or may incorrectly respond to a non-failure.
Other safety systems for aerial movement devices utilize systems that provide an additional line. For example, U.S. Pat. Pub. No. 2009/0207250, discloses the use of a safety system which utilizes an additional line associated with a reel. The reel functions in a constant tension operation mode. While these systems are presumably effective for their intended purposes, there is no control over the movement of the object being suspended, as the reel of the safety line maintains a constant tension. This lack of control could present further safety concerns. In addition, by not determining if a failure has occurred, the system may not respond correctly to all failures, and, the system may incorrectly respond to a non-failure.
It would be desirable for an aerial movement system to include a reactive safety system that can determine if a failure occurs and react accordingly.
It would also be desirable if the system could be utilized not only as a safety system, but also as an integral part of the aerial movement system by allowing for the transmission of data from the object through the use of a line in the safety system.
It would be desirable to have a system that minimizes unnecessary wear and pull on the other components of the aerial movement system.